October 26, 2022 — At the intersection of Halloween, inflation, and righteous demands to bring portion sizes under control, candy is shrinking this year. Candy prices are way up, with an average increase of 13 percent versus last year according to the U.S. Department of Labor. At the same time, candy makers are shrinking package sizes – both the […]
February 22, 2022 — For insight into the notion that something is wrong with our food environment, consider the case of Hank the Tank. Hank is a bear of size in South Lake Tahoe, California. Living large with obesity in a posh gated community, this bear is wreaking havoc. All because he found an ample supply of food. California’s […]
January 29, 2022 — For decades now, public health figures have been talking about an urgent need to prevent and reverse the rise of obesity. A number of U.S. presidents – notably George W. Bush and Barack Obama – have embraced this goal. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a whole division devoted to this goal. […]
September 2, 2021 — Better living through chemistry is a catchphrase that takes us back to a time before obesity was really taking off in America. DuPont dropped that phrase in 1982. But the chemistry that may help bring us more adiposity is starting to get some serious attention. Writing in Obesity Reviews, Kelly Brownell and Tim Lobstein are […]
May 10, 2021 — Brace yourself for sugar 2.0. Processed food makers are loading up on sugar that’s not sugar. The push to drive added sugar out of the food supply means that allulose – a rare, but natural form of sugar – is suddenly popular with the industry. It helps that food companies can add this sugar to […]
May 22, 2020 — Remember when Blue Apron was poised for a hot IPO? It’s only been three years, but it seems like a lifetime. Along with the rest of a flock of fledgling meal kit services, Blue Apron has been down in the dumps since its IPO. It seems that beautiful images and romantic notions of cooking with […]
May 6, 2020 — As the coronavirus pandemic rages on, politicians discuss a quick return to normal – whatever that is. But we see many mounting mashups of wildly contradictory extremes. Perhaps none is more striking than the growing contradiction between massive food waste, insecurity, and hunger. Food Banks Overwhelmed Food banks are facing unprecedented demand for their services. […]
December 19, 2018 — We are in the midst of a secular holiday season that primes us to fill up on purchases. Stimulate the economy. Seasonal feasts and gift exchanges empty our bank accounts while stuffing our bodies and our lives. But advocates for minimalism emphasize filling up on experiences rather than stuff. Stuffocation In his book Stuffocation, James Wallman […]
August 2, 2018 — “Have We Lost Our Food Skills and How to Get Them Back” was the bait-clicky headline of a recent piece in the Sydney Morning Herald. The article by Paula Goodyer with contributions from dietitians including Profs. Clare Collins and Margaret Allman-Farinelli makes the point that “a host of factors have led to a generation who […]
July 30, 2014 — Gawker has uncovered the American obesity appliance for us this week: our super-sized refrigerators. It turns out that Americans have the biggest refrigerators in the world — approximately 22 cubic feet on average. By comparison, refrigerators in Europe are less than half the size of ours, measuring up to only an average of about 10 cubic […]
